Lehigh has received $1.6 million to participate in the \u201cCommonwealth of Pennsylvania EGS Pilot Demonstration,\u201d a U.S. Department of Energy-funded project led by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The total project budget is about $14 million. The \u201cEGS\u201d stands for enhanced geothermal system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project shows what\u2019s possible when faculty work across disciplinary and college boundaries,\u201d said Robert Flowers, Herbert J. and Ann L. Siegel Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. \u201cEarth scientists from the College of Arts and Sciences<\/a> and engineers from the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science<\/a> are bringing complementary expertise to a problem neither could solve alone. Research like this matters because discoveries don’t stay in the lab. It\u2019s designed to bring new possibilities to Pennsylvania communities, and it reflects Lehigh\u2019s commitment to scholarship that serves the people and places around us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The goal is to generate one megawatt of electricity from a low-enthalpy, underperforming Marcellus Shale gas well in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. The project will draw heat from an underperforming natural gas well by circulating water at depth, and then bring that heated water to the surface.\u00a0 That heated water\u00a0 energy will produce electricity for the local grid and supply direct-use heat to nearby homes and businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cPennsylvania\u2019s conventional hydrocarbon industry, followed by the shale oil and gas revolution left behind a vast network of wells and related infrastructure ,\u201d said Frank Pazzaglia, professor of Earth and environmental sciences in Lehigh\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences and the principal investigator. \u201cThis project asks whether we can give that infrastructure a second life as a clean, renewable energy source.\u201d<\/p>\n The pilot will use a deep existing unconventional gas well in Indiana County, PA where the geology is favorable for tapping geothermal resources. The well is operated by CNX Green Ventures, an Appalachian oil and gas producer.\u00a0<\/p>\n